Next up we made the drive to Bryce National Park. Its about a two hour drive from Zion to the park.

While I have also been to Bryce, it was only once and it was nearly a decade ago. It was great to be back.

We set out to hike the Navaho and Peak-a-Boo loops. It was snowy at Bryce, so we broke out the microspikes. I carried my two trekking poles as well.

One of the great things about Bryce is that, from the beginning, you are rewarded with amazing views. They never stop until the end.

The overall hike was 5.9 miles. Combined with the 5.2 miles on Angel’s Landing earlier in the day, it was time to call it a day.

We headed up toward Capitol Reef National Park. The route takes you along UT-12, which Cooper found some reviews that claimed it was a “treacherous” road that you should be careful driving in the dark. We made the drive in a few hours, mostly in the dark, without issue. We did almost ram a herd of elk that were standing in the middle of the road, but it ended up uneventful.

A few funny stories.

We headed straight to dinner. There was a good pizza place that had some fantastic local craft beer. We split a large pizza and a pitcher. Around 7:55 we were wrapping up eating and we were pretty much the last people in the restaurant. Two additional patrons entered and asked for a table, but were told that the last seating was at 7:45 for dinner. They asked where they could find food for dinner, and were told that the closest place was one town over, about ten miles away, at the movie theater! “They will have food”.

I’m always nervous that restaurants will close early when I travel to smaller towns, and rightfully so!

When we got to the hotel room, I checked the next days weather while Cooper was taking a shower. There was a storm warning. 18-30 inches of snow forecast! I yelled a Cooper “dude, 18-30 inches of snow coming… we have to get out of here”. We were seriously considering leaving and called the front desk, but they said it would only snow an inch or less. As it turns out, the stupid weather channel had put a warning on the page for Capitol Reef that was only relevant in the Salt Lake City area several hundred miles north. Thanks for making me look like a moron, weather channel.

That said, we stayed the night by Capitol Reef and that closes out a long day 1.